Moses Nathan Levy – Stories of Our Ancestors

Third Great Grandfather, Moses Nathan Levy was born 22 May 1800 , in Hamburg, Germany to Moses Levy and Jette Cohn.

He is listed (acc. to Justin Levy) on the Hamburg city directory as a merchant since 1828. Cousin Scott H. posted a pic of the 1847 address book where M.N. Levy is in Producten-Handlung, neue Mobilien und Lager von allen Sorten Federn fertigen Betten, Muehlenstrasse no.34. He sold beds, mattresses and other stuff.

In the 1873 Hamburg address book,he is trading from Mühlenstrasse 34 , where he’d been for many years. 1873 Hamburg Adressbuch – Moses Nathan Levy (1) He obviously had some connections to Bavaria, since both of his wives came from there.

Moses married Hanchen Pickert, of Wittelshoffen, near Ansbach, Bavaria, 1 Jun 1825 in Hamburg. Hannchen was the daughter of David Pickert and Roeschen Elias.

Moses and Hanchen had seven children according to the births register of the Hamburg Jewish community. These are kept in the Hamburg State Archives and include the years 1816–1866.

David, born 19 May 1825 in Hamburg: res “Lömckenstraße” Lömcken Street . Moses was a “Lumpen Sortier” [rag picker].

Samuel (siegmund) born 21 Jan 1828 birth record lists the residence as “Grünensood. ” Moses remained a rag picker.

David Hirsch, born 4 April 1829 in Hamburg: res “Bohlhofen Nr. 1.” At this point, Moses had become a “Kaufmann” [merchant], which he remains until his death.

Roeschen, born 23 May 1830 in Hamburg: res, Kohlhofen.

Levin, born 31 October 1832 in Hamburg: res “rothe Soodstraße” [rothe= red, Strasse=street]. Moses is called a ” “Handelsmann” [dealer] .

Abraham, born 11 September 1834 in Hamburg: res “Mühlenstraße” [Mill Strasse=Street]. Moses is still termed a Dealer,

**********Hannchen died in Hamburg on the 4th of August 1835 at the age of 37 years. In the death register her birth place is listed as Wettelshof near Ansbach.

**********On 1 Nov 1835, Moses married Sophie Hermann, daughter of Jonas Hermann and Betty Salomon. Sophie was born 1810 in Glensdorf, Bavaria.

They had five children born in Hamburg:

Rosette, born 28 July 1836

Brunette Emma, born 29 August 1837. Married Gustave Hermann, a lawyer in Hamburg,

Julius, born 4 August 1840. Died 10 October 1908. Address 1973 E. 14th St. NYC, NY. Buried in Mt. Zion Cemetery. Married Henriette Hirsch in 1869. They had 5 children: Selda b. 1878, John b 1879, Anna . 1884, Paul Levy b. 1889, who changed his name to BERN (famous MGM movie producer who married Jean Harlow), and Henry b. 1892 married Miriam Shongut and had 2 children. Henry also changed his name to BERN.

Selina, born 20 June 1841

Friederike, born 7 May 1842. At that time a horrible fire raged through Hamburg. Frederike emigrated to America.

Mathilde, born 23 May 1843

Moses would be 43 at this point and Sophie, 33. We do not have his death record. It would also be interesting to learn more about the community and synagogue in Hamburg.

Moses died on 23 Sept. 1876 in Hamburg. He was 76 years of age.

Several people have contributed to our knowledge of the Levy clan.

I am indebted to Juergen Sielemann of the Hamburg Jewish Genealogical Society for the confirmation on Moses being in Hamburg as well as both of his wives and their children. Here is an article about this special person. Be sure to read about this generous volunteer genealogist!

Thanks to Scott Hicks for the beginning breakthrough on Hannah Levy that then began our search for the family. He continues to find more records and add to our knowledge.

Also, Thanks to Ellen, who has shared many records on ancestry. What a great job you’ve done!!! Many you live long and well.

Then there are the cousins on 23and ME or familytreedna who have uploaded to gedmatch. Thank you Thank you. The tree blossoms with your support.

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